Diefenbaker DNA tests will check man's claim to be son

DNA sampling is underway in Saskatoon that may rewrite the personal history of the only Prime Minister from Saskatchewan, John Diefenbaker.

Personal objects that once belonged to Diefenbaker are being examined to check the claim of a man who says the former prime minister may be his father.

John George Dryden, 42, says his mother knew Diefenbaker.  DNA testing earlier this year showed the man Dryden believed to be his biological father is not.

Now, scientists are examining some hairbrushes and old hats stored at the John Diefenbaker Centre, to see if the items will produce viable DNA samples that can be tested.

It took several months of negotiations before the artifacts were made available.

If the samples can be tested, the results were not expected until some time in 2012.

Diefenbaker did not have any children and would have been 72 when Dryden was conceived.